Final Thoughts for the Final Day?

If Stacy Spence's prediction holds true, the end of the world as we know it looks pretty good.

By DAMIAN MANN

If Stacy Spence's prediction holds true, the end of the world as we know it looks pretty good.

"We are going to have greater consciousness and be more aware and open to the universe," the 36-year-old Medford acupuncturist said. "It's not about craziness, it's about heart space."

Many local residents are ready to party or joke about predictions that the world will end Friday, while others such as Spence don't see it as the end but as a change or transformation.

Even NASA has weighed in on the debate, pronouncing on its website that the world will not end on Dec. 21, which also is the winter solstice.

While some predict doom and gloom for Friday based on interpretations of the Mayan calendar, Spence sees an opportunity for a better world as we enter the Age of Aquarius, though, she said, some might resist the change.

"It's a big moment in evolution," she said. "People who are in a fear paradigm will experience more of a chaos transition."

Spence said she planned to attend an ascension gathering at Mount Shasta to celebrate the dawn of the new age.

Rob Nutting, a 46-year-old White City resident, had similar views to Spence.

"In my social sphere, we're thinking it may not be the end of the world, but a paradigm shift," he said.

Nutting said he plans to go to a sweat lodge on Friday as he envisions major changes for humanity in the future.

Not everybody had such a noble vision in mind.

"I'm probably just going to get up and go to work," said Nick Stine, a 42-year-old Grants Pass mason as he was setting bricks in Medford Wednesday. "Remember all the hullabaloo about Y2K? I just don't think anything's going to happen."

"Y2K" is a reference to calendar year 2000, when many predicted massive computer failures because software would not be able to recognize the year as it moved beyond the 1990s.